# fornix
## English
### Etymology

Borrowing from Latin fornix (“an arch, vault”).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ˈfɔː(ɹ).nɪks/

### Noun

fornix (plural fornices)
* (anatomy) An archlike or vaulted structure or fold:
** The junction where the conjunctiva lining the eyelid meets the conjunctiva overlying the sclera.
** (neuroanatomy) A triangular area of white matter in the mammalian brain beneath the corpus callosum and between the hippocampus and the hypothalamus.
** The vaulted upper part of the vagina surrounding the uterine cervix.

#### Derived terms

* fornical
* fornicate
* forniceal
* fornix vaginae

#### Translations
### References

* “fornix”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “fornix”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

## Latin
### Etymology

Probably akin to Latin fornāx and furnus, fornus (“furnace”), and derived from the latter as *fornikos (“vaulted like a furnace”): typologically compare Ancient Greek κάμινος (káminos, “furnace”) beside καμάρα (kamára, “vaulted chamber”), both possibly from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- (“to bend, to curve”).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Latin) IPA: /ˈfor.niks/, [ˈfɔrnɪks̠]
* (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA: /ˈfor.niks/, [ˈfɔrniks]

### Noun

fornix m (genitive fornicis); third declension
* (literal) arch, vault
* (poetic) the arch of heaven
* brothel, bagnio, stew (situated in a cellar)
* This entry needs quotations to illustrate usage. If you come across any interesting, durably archived quotes then please add them!

#### Inflection

Third-declension noun.

#### Derived terms

* cōnfornicō
* fornicārius
* fornicor
* Fornix Fabius

#### Related terms

* fornicārius
* fornicātim
* fornicātiō
* fornicātor
* fornicātrīx
* fornicātus

#### Descendants

* → Catalan: fòrnix
* → English: fornix
* → Italian: fornice
* → Portuguese: fórnice
* → Romanian: fornix
* → Spanish: fórnix
* → Welsh: ffyrnig

### References

* ↑ Rich, Anthony (1849) “fornax”, in The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon‎, London: Longmans, page 297a
* ↑ Walde, Alois (1921) “Lateinische Etymologien”, in Indogermanische Forschungen, volume 39, pages 74–75
* ↑ Walde, Alois, Hofmann, Johann Baptist (1938) “fornix”, in Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), 3rd edition, volume I, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, page 534
* ↑ Ernout, Alfred, Meillet, Antoine (1985) “fornix”, in Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue latine: histoire des mots‎ (in French), 4th edition, with additions and corrections of Jacques André, Paris: Klincksieck, published 2001, page 248b
* ↑ Balles, Irene (2008) Rosemarie Lühr, editor, Nominale Wortbildung des Indogermanischen in Grundzügen. Vol. 1: Latein, Altgriechisch (Philologia; 121) (in German), Hamburg: Dr. Kovač, page 50

### Further reading

* “fornix”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
* “fornix”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
* fornix in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition with additions by D. P. Carpenterius, Adelungius and others, edited by Léopold Favre, 1883–1887)
* fornix in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
* “fornix”, in Harry Thurston Peck, editor (1898), Harper's Dictionary of Classical Antiquities, New York: Harper & Brothers
* fornix in Ramminger, Johann (2016 July 16 (last accessed)) Neulateinische Wortliste: Ein Wörterbuch des Lateinischen von Petrarca bis 1700‎, pre-publication website, 2005-2016
* “fornix”, in William Smith et al., editor (1890), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities, London: William Wayte. G. E. Marindin
* Rich, Anthony (1849) “fornix”, in The Illustrated Companion to the Latin Dictionary and Greek Lexicon‎, London: Longmans, pages 297–298